Notes of Life
by Ind1G0
Summary: AU The snapshot moments and unexpected events that define a life. Or lives. Depending which way you squint. [A Hinata centric series of not entirely unrelated oneshots]
1. Note1: of lunchtimes & misunderstandings

**Lunch Break Doesn't Have to be Torture**

**September 10, 2002  
**

Hinata almost felt like laughing at her own gullibility and naivete. Almost. Not quite. She'd probably succumb to the ridiculous urge later, but for right now she had to focus, or she'd never be able to get through this.

Gripping her bento box with determined fear, she risked a longing glance around the tree she had taken refuge behind to the oh-so-inviting door that would grant her salvation from this humiliating torture. Her pale grey gaze slid from the high school entrance to the throng of students surrounding it, enjoying their own lunch hour in the company of friends.

As she quickly darted back behind the foliage, Hinata felt her heart clench ever so slightly with an ache she thought she really ought to be used to by now. She didn't understand why the boys would invite her to eat lunch with them and then simply not show up. Hinata knew she shouldn't be complaining. It could have been worse. They could have eaten lunch with her just to pick on, or bully, her.

The girls at her old school would sometimes do that. They would be friendly and nice and would Hinata like to sit with them at lunchtime? And she knew the niceties were fake, knew that they enjoyed humiliating her and they were almost assuredly planning to do just that if she went with them. Their intentions were so obvious and all her survival instincts were screaming 'RUN!'; but deep down there was that tiny grain of desperate hope, frantically clinging to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, they really did just want to have lunch with her.

Hinata hugged her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them, smiling bitterly at her own foolishness, her blue-black hair falling forward to hide her face.

The six boys who had asked for her presence today were classmates from her homeroom. They made her nervous and confused with hesitant hope; at her last school, when her classmates didn't bully her, they ignored her completely.

But these boys... they talked to her, even when it wasn't required for them to do so (in fact, usually did so when they weren't actually supposed to be talking at all). It wasn't even just polite conversation- it almost seemed as though they _liked_ speaking with her. And, after her initial shock wore off, Hinata found that... she liked talking with them, too.

Not that there had been _many_ conversations. While Naruto-san and Kiba-san seemed to never stop chattering, the others were fairly quiet people. Shikamaru-san, though extremely brilliant, was very laid back and appeared to consider speaking as a chore most of the time; Shino-san didn't talk much either, but it was more from being a quiet presence than from being laid back as Shikamaru-san was; Sasuke-san and Gaara-san were too intense to fade as Shino did, though they were considerably less vocally active than the giant twin balls of energy known as Naruto-san and Kiba-san.

So when Naruto-san had excitedly run up to her that morning, just a few hours ago, Kiba-san hot on his heels, the two of them turning their bright blue and dark chocolate puppy eyes on her and practically begging her to meet them for lunch later, that tiny grain of hope fluttering in her chest had been just a little bigger than normal. She had looked over their shoulders to see Shino-san, Gaara-san, Shikamaru-san and Sasuke-san coming up behind them, looking at her expectantly. And how could she say no?

Dialogue between the boys and herself was sparse, but she... Hinata had thought... she had hoped that... that maybe they might... be her friends... Hinata couldn't bite back the harsh sob that ripped from her throat.

Lost in her thoughts and trying to stop the hot pressure that had spilled over from behind her eyes, Hinata didn't hear the footsteps closing in on her hiding spot until they stopped in front of her. Panic gripped her small form, still heaving with repressed sobs. Her head shot up to see... Gaara-san.

He was panting slightly, his bright red hair more disheveled than usual. His pale green eyes were looking at her with an odd mixture of irritation and... relief?

"Where," he gasped out, "the hell have you been?" Hinata blanched at the harsh tone, too frightened to process the words. More tears trickled down her cheeks and she wanted to hate herself for it.

"I- I, uh-hm-"

"We've been looking _everywhere_ for you!" Gaara forced himself to halt, took a deep breath to calm his frazzled nerves- and looked at the panic stricken, tear-stained mess before him trying to contain the sobs racking her petite frame. Her calf-high socks, which had been a pristine white that morning, were streaked with faint lines of dirt, the immaculate pleats of her knee-length skirt were creased and wrinkled, and Gaara could see tiny scratches covering her palms.

Anger coursed through him and he rubbed a hand over his face as he tried to compose himself. The last thing he wanted was to snap at the girl and make matters worse than they already were.

Gaara was well aware, as were the others, that Hinata had had a rough time at her last school and that some of the girls who had transferred to Okibi High for the 'co-ed experiment' were old classmates who had been responsible for a large part of that. There weren't very many girls attending the school, either. While Okibi was officially co-ed, the female population, including the school's one female teacher, still had yet to exceed the monumental count of thirty-one. Though, thankfully, Hinata hadn't had to spend a lot of time with any of her past tormentors as the 'new' students had been distributed thinly among the classes, to give the unfamiliar sense of female presence a broader scope.

Hinata was actually the _only_ girl in their own class. This, of course, brought her the immediate attention of everyone else in the classroom. Gaara didn't know if he would have paid her any more notice after the first round of introductions if not for the earlier incident in the entrance hall, when Naruto and Kiba- clumsy idiots that they were- bowled the timid girl over as they raced through the door and Gaara, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino had been forced to rush over for damage control.

After that, though, the boys had, somehow, without them even really realizing it, unofficially added Hinata into their tight knit circle of friends. He and Sasuke were still trying to figure out how it happened- the others didn't really care; she was their friend and that was that. Though he was more than a little puzzled by how quickly the girl had made her way into their ranks (school only just started two weeks ago), Gaara found that he didn't really mind the intrusion.

At this point, the only thing that irked him about the situation was that a good number of their classmates still went out of their way to make Hinata's life miserable, despite the fact that she had inadvertently endeared herself to the top members of Okibi High's national champion martial arts team. It was a direct blow to his and his friends' pride _and_ they all hated to see any of their friends suffer like Hinata was.

And then Sasuke had pointed out that maybe they should mark their territory more clearly. No one bothered to correct this cavemanesque remark; they were too busy wondering why _they_ hadn't thought of that solution.

After that, they decided to take a more active role in letting people know that Hinata was off-limits. It didn't occur to them that Hinata might object to the arrangement until she hadn't shown up at the beginning of the lunch period. Kiba had done a better job of hiding his dejected pout than Naruto, but not by much. Gaara and Sasuke covered theirs with with weak attempts at appearing irritated. Shino merely continued to search for her tiny figure among the crowd of students. Shikamaru looked thoughtful.

"Oi, where did we tell her to meet us?" The lazy genius turned to survey his friends questioningly. Naruto blinked at him in confusion, "I told Hinata-chan to meet us right here. Duuuh."

Shikamaru looked as though he was trying not to roll his eyes. "I was asking what directions you gave her."

Understanding dawned across the blonde's face. "I told her that we always meet under the big tree outside the building." Naruto smiled as though he'd just told them he had invented a new flavor of his beloved ramen. They stared at him blankly... then the horrifying comprehension of this new information set in; even Naruto paled as he realized what he had done. The school's campus was surrounded by by a small forest.

Shino, the team's captain, didn't pause to waste any more time.

"Naruto, Kiba, take the east side, Shikamaru, Sasuke, south, Gaara, you go west, I'll take the north side."

They ran off to search for their missing friend. Fifteen minutes later, Gaara was trying to control his worried temper as he stared down at the source of his aggravation.

Hinata had managed to calm down quite a bit and was no longer sobbing, though tears still lingered at the corners of her eyes and quiet hiccups occasionally stole from her tired throat.

"Gomen- n-nasai," the quiet whisper broke the silence between the two. She peeked from beneath her bangs to see Gaara's incredulous stare.

"What?" He couldn't have heard that correctly. There was just no way she was _apologizing_ to him.

She squeaked in fright as he glared confusedly at her. If she were a bolder person, Hinata might have laughed at his miffed expression. Gaara sighed in exasperation.

"Whatever. Let's go."

No matter how many times it happened, Hinata was always surprised by the hands that appeared in front of her face when she was standing up from the ground and any of the boys were nearby. She blinked at the proffered appendage.

"A-ano, go w-where?"

Gaara felt his eye twitch. "To go meet up with the others. We were all worried about you."

Hinata felt something in her chest flutter. "Y-you were... wor-ried...?" She allowed him, somewhat hesitantly, to grasp her hand and pull her to her feet.

He frowned, not liking the way his gut clenched and twisted under that painfully hopeful gaze. "Of course we were worried. We didn't know where you were."

Pulling his eyes from hers, Gaara scooped up Hinata's bento into his hand and proceeded to drag it, and her, back to the others. All the way there he grumbled under his breath about girls being bothersome, and why did he always make friends with the ones that gave him headaches.

They turned a corner of the building and Shino, Sasuke, and Shikamaru came into view, trudging towards a big tree. They visibly relaxed when they caught sight Gaara heading to the tree, Hinata trailing along behind the irate red-head. Naruto and Kiba burst out of a clump of bushes across the small clearing and barreled toward them, both manically waving their arms as though their lives depended on it.

Storming ahead of her as he was, Gaara missed the tiny smile that lit Hinata's blotchy, tear-stained face; the others didn't.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters or copyrights. 

Author's Note: I'm just going to throw this out here now, before anyone makes any assumptions about this story. What you will find in these chapters is not a continually developing main plot or storyline. Each chapter is written to be a stand alone oneshot (as in, independent from each other) of character interaction or study. They just all happen to take place in the same alternate universe which I have invented for my own nefarious purposes.

Also, the chapters aren't going to go up in any semblence chronological order (pfft! order. who needs that?). However I will state at the beginning of each story when I imagine it to take place. So I guess I just went and made myself a hypocrite. Shoot.

Lastly, would those of you who have put in the time and effort to actually read this far please be willing to go just that tiny bit of distance more to the little blue button in the corner of your screen? Any comments, suggestions or criticisms are welcome and appreciated.


	2. Note2: of odd numbers & project partners

**The Importance of Asking**

**September 24, 2002**

"All right, class, listen up!" Iruka looked around the room, pleased to see that he actually had his students' full attention for a change. "I haven't given you all a lot of work yet," there was a string of disbelieving scoffs, "because I wanted to let you get back into the swing of things at a reasonable pace. But we are now a month into the school year and I've decided it's time we start getting serious." He smiled knowingly at the groans and exclamations of protest.

"Today you're going to be choosing project partners. Choose someone you know you'll be able to work well with, because they will be your partners for the rest of the year. You have until the end of the period. Anyone without a partner by then will be assigned someone."

Naruto and Kiba sported matching eager gleams in their eyes and glanced at each other as discreetly as they could. Thankfully Shino caught the exchange and interfered before permanent damage was done. "No."

The two troublemakers turned their best puppy eyes on the stoic boy. "But Shinooo," Naruto whined. "Why noooot??" Shino's eye twitched ever so slightly at his friend's belligerent tone.

"Because I forbid it. Kiba." The one addressed wilted a bit under the martial arts team captain's commanding voice. "You will work with me. Understood?" Kiba's shoulders drooped in grudging submission, "Hai." Shino nodded once in silent approval.

Naruto merely huffed and crossed his arms over his chest in disgust. It didn't take long for him to brighten however. "Hey, hey! If Kiba gets Shino, then I got dibs on Shikamaru!" Said boy shook his head at his loud friends' antics, sighed exasperatedly, and reluctantly acquiesced to the gregarious blonde's demands. Naruto whooped in delight.

Sasuke and Gaara merely exchanged a glance and a curt nod to confirm their own partnership.

And then they all froze, the sudden realization that they had forgotten something important temporarily immobilizing them. They slowly turned as one to face Hinata's desk, none of them quite sure how to deal with their unforeseen odd-numbered dilemma,... only to find it empty.

Meanwhile, their timid female friend walked purposefully and not a little shakily towards the only other girl in her class, Tayuya. As Hinata approached her, she sat slouched in her seat, looking thoroughly disgusted with the whole situation. She turned her head to observe the girl stopped next to her desk. Cringing slightly under the other girl's direct gaze, Hinata twiddled her fingers nervously.

Maybe she shouldn't be doing this; Tayuya-san looked very annoyed... No, she _would_ go through with this. Taking a deep breath, Hinata gathered every ounce of courage she could muster and stepped closer to her classmate.

Tayuya blinked at the determination that suddenly appeared in the timid girl's face and idly wondered if she should worry.

"A-ano, T-tayuya-san."

"Aa..."

"U-um, I-I was just won-wondering if you... th-that is... if y-you would... um..."

"Nani."

"Ano! Would Tayuya-san please be my partner!... o-onegai..."

Surprised by the abrupt and unexpected outburst, Tayuya could only stare at Hinata's newest impersonation of a tomato.

"... Aa."

Hinata's head shot up from her embarrassed study of her shoes to look at her in shocked delight. Her hands came up to clasp together in front of her and her eyes sparkled brightly.

"H-honto ni?!"

Tayuya had to lean away from the raw bubbly excitement suddenly invading her personal space.

"Aa." She wasn't really sure why she was agreeing to do this.

After a moment's consideration she decided to just blame it on the strange, vague thoughts that kept saying that maybe this whole school thing wouldn't be _so_ bad and that, even if Hinata's stuttering grated her nerves, at least she wasn't a complete nitwit like most of their other classmates. Not to mention she also actually treated Tayuya like another human being, as opposed to some _other_ people she could name who looked down at her as though she were an unsightly cockroach they'd like to smash beneath their shoe if only she would stand still long enough for them to do it.

Besides, since she'd been kicked out of her gang- Tayuya winced slightly at _those_ still stinging wounds, physical and emotional- it really wasn't as though she had anything better to do.

Hinata was still beaming at her; she was surprised the smaller girl's face hadn't yet split itself in two. It kind of reminded her of that smile Hinata had flashed her when they first met- a week and a half ago, on _that_ day- the day her gang left her...

Tayuya quickly redirected her thoughts away from that particular memory and the conflicting and confusing emotions it brought up. Her mind drifted aimlessly, for a moment completely forgetting the quiet presence still standing in front of her.

It didn't last long though. Her attention refocused on Hinata as she bowed to Tayuya politely, happy smile not showing signs of fading anytime soon, and made her way back to her seat and the distressed looking group of boys- she assumed they were Hinata's friends- surrounding it.

'Ah, well,' Tayuya thought, surveying her class with eyes that were _slightly_ less hostile than they had been two days before when she first arrived. 'I don't really get it... but,' she glanced over at her new project partner staring confusedly at her nearly hyperventilating friends, 'I guess it's not so bad.'

* * *

All standard disclaimers apply. 

Author's Note: YEA!! Three cheers for TayuHina friendship!

I hope I didn't break anyone's brain with this one. +grins evilly+

Comments, suggestions and criticisms are all warmly welcomed and greatly appreciated!


	3. Note3: of octopi & aliases

**Always Read the Smallprint**

**August 27, 2002**

It hadn't really registered with Hinata that going to a new school that had been an all-boys school up until today, when it would welcome its first female students ever, meant that she would have to interact (i.e. converse with, come in close proximity to, etc.) with her new, decidedly masculine peers. Now this delayed realization was smacking her upside the head repeatedly and mockingly pointing out that she had never actually spoken to a single male who was not in some way related to her. Hinata tried to swallow the anxious lump forming in her throat and wasn't completely surprised to find that she couldn't; her mouth was paper-dry and there was a large wad of what felt like sandpaper where her tongue was supposed to be.

The massive double doors of her new school loomed menacingly before her as Hinata forced her too heavy limbs to carry her towards what she was sure was a nightmare waiting to happen. She had never felt so unprepared or inadequate in her entire life.

Hinata sighed in relief when she managed to get past the entryway safely. There were a few boys loitering around the hallways and she almost fainted in frightened embarrassment when a few of them looked up and waved at her. However, after they waved and yelled brief 'hello's, or 'hey, new kid's at her, they turned away and went back to whatever they had been doing beforehand; it didn't even seem like they really expected her to answer them, for which Hinata was eternally grateful. She wouldn't have known what to do if they had pursued further conversation.

Quickly scurrying away from the boys, now mercifully ignoring her, Hinata went in search of the main office to get her class schedule and homeroom assignment. As she walked down the halls, she was careful to keep a watchful eye out for possible prankers or bullies; she hoped with all her might that the students here would be kinder than the girls at her old school who had delighted in making her life miserable.

After making it all the way to the office without incident, she decided not to count all the other boys who had greeted her as they seemed to just want to be friendly, Hinata allowed herself to relax a little bit. 'Maybe... maybe this won't be as horrible as I thought it would...' Feeling that she might actually be able to enjoy her herself here, Hinata reached for the office doorknob with a quiet smile spreading across her being. Her hand never made it to the inviting metal protrusion.

With two inches left to go, the door burst open and smacked Hinata in the face so hard that it forced her to stumble about a foot backwards and it was only an uncharacteristic moment of supreme balance that saved her from falling flat on her behind. Which was where she ended up anyways when two very large blurs barreled past her and left the vague impression of a pair of miniature twin tornadoes.

She _knew_ something bad was going to happen today.

Now there were more students in the hall and they were all staring at her and her books and papers were strewn about her pathetically- _staring_ at her-, she tried to pick them up- whispering, giggling-, tried to fold in on herself and disappear- staring, staring, too many _eyes_-, but her hands were shaking and heavy and wouldn't move right and there were _too many eyes_...!

Then, suddenly, there were too many hands. It took Hinata a moment to get past her initial panicky thoughts that she had somehow managed to grow eight extra pairs of fully functional arms. She came back to her senses when she noticed that the hands were coming from directions that made it impossible for them to be attached to her body. Panic behind her, Hinata decided to settle on general confusion: _why_ were there eight pairs of hands picking up her books and papers?... Wait... picking up her...?

"U-um, g-gomen-" Hinata's automatic apology was cut off as a messy pile of papers was shoved in her face impatiently. She stared dumbly at the offering, not entirely sure what she was supposed to do. There was a dramatic sigh in front of her and Hinata looked up to see a boy lounging on the ground in a lazy squat hang his head forward slightly, as though it were too much effort to hold it upright. "Tch. Mendokusai," she couldn't even bother to bring herself to be nervous at how close the boy was- she was too fascinated by his laid back mannerisms that still somehow managed to portray strength and confidence.

"Oi. Here," papers were once again in her face and, this time having been given semi-clear instructions on the proper course of conduct, Hinata obediently reached for the messy pile. "A-arigato-" another, much less haphazard, handful of books and papers was presented, much less forcefully, to a puzzled Hinata.

She turned to look into a pair of sunglasses. 'Aren't sunglasses against school policy?' The idle thought flit through her mind briefly before she reached to take the other proffered pile. The sunglasses gave her a short inspection and returned to observe her face with concern, "Are you alright?"

"E-eh? Oh, umm, h-hai, I'm f-fine! Demo…" Hinata wasn't quite sure how to pose the question currently spinning in her mind. Eyebrows furrowed, the sunglasses silently urged her to continue. She sucked in a breath and plowed forward before she lost her nerve, "Demo why, um, why are you, u-umm…" The tiny well of curiosity Hinata had been drawing courage from shriveled and died under the suddenly disapproving gaze the sunglasses were sending her. It sort of made her wish _she_ could shrivel up and die.

"We are helping you because you were in need of assistance and we knew that we could provide you with it." There was no room for dispute in the firm tone, so Hinata didn't press the matter. "O-oh. O-ok. Well, umm, th-thank you." Holding all of her previously renegade papers, she attempted to stand and flee the presence of the penetrating sunglasses.

The only problem with that was that apparently her legs had decided they liked the floor and were now refusing to cooperate with her wishes.

Synchronized irritated sighs were her only warning before two different hands appeared in front of her face. It took a great deal of willpower she hadn't been aware she possessed to keep herself from recoiling in surprise. Hinata blinked rapidly at the appendages hovering before her, "U-um, wh-what…?"

"You gonna get up or what?" Another blink for the gruff voice that answered her incomplete inquiry. When she merely stared at him blankly, Gruff Voice gave her a strange look. He glanced sideways to the red-headed boy next to him, whose hand was also stretched out to her, and they both nodded. Entranced by the somber exchange, Hinata watched, a little detached from the somewhat surreal circumstance, as they walked to stand on either side of her. Rough hands grabbed her behind her elbows and hauled her forcibly to her feet.

"E-eep!" Dear God, please tell her she didn't just _squeak_. Hinata's face lit up like a cherry tomato and she stumbled awkwardly out of the boys' grasp, her books held in front of her protectively. The four boys continued to watch her strangely and all she wanted was to disappear from under their gazes.

Stammering out thanks and apologies for wasting their time in between frantically polite bows, Hinata blushed madly and tried to search for a way to get away from their intimidating presences. She finally noticed that one of them was holding open the door she had been trying to enter earlier. Reddened more than she had ever thought possible, Hinata bowed once more and quickly escaped into the relative safety of the school office, one of the boys' voices trailing playfully behind her.

"Oh, yeah. Welcome to Okibi."

* * *

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply 

Footnote- tornado twins: Naruto & Kiba; lazy boy: Shikamaru; sunglasses: Shino; gruff voice: Sasuke; red head: Gaara (obviously) :) just to clarify

Author's Note: First off, I would like to take a moment to send out ginormous bear hugs and loves to everyone who reviewed (you know, the whole two of you). It means a lot to me that you both took the time to send me a message!

To all you people who _didn't_ review, please do so; even if all you have to say is 'I hate/love it!', I'd still appreciate anything you throw at me.

As an aside, for anyone interested, I have a running story status on my profile that I plan to use for keeping people up to date about where I am with my chapters. Please give me a visit and drop some feedback- I'd love to hear from you!

As always, comments, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome and appreciated.

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